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Improving schools' support for children with a spinal cord injury
Published 09/30/2008
| Research | Unrated
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This research study was carried out by the Thomas Coram Research Unit,
the Institute of Education at the University of London between January
and July 2008. The study was funded by the Back-Up Trust, an
organisation working with spinally injured adults and children, as part
of its Schools Project.
The main purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of
children and young people with a spinal cord inquiry (SCI) in
mainstream school. This was to inform the Back-Up Trust's Schools
Project, which aims to improve the quality of school provision for
children with a spinal cord injury.
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The First 72 Hours After SCI: Clinical Practice Guidelines Released
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 The Consortium for Spinal Cord Medicine has released "Early Acute
Management in Adults with Spinal Cord Injury," a guide to managing the
critical first days after spinal cord trauma.
The guideline is published by the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), which manages and funds the Consortium.
During the first few days after an SCI, when life-saving
interventions dominate the care of the spinal cord injured individual,
efforts at preserving life, limiting the severity of the injury's
effects and improving long-term outcomes are vitally important.
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Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan May Have Many Roles In Spinal Cord Injury Repair
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The proteoglycan chondroitin sulfate (CSPG) plays an important role not
just in the formation of the glial scar but also in the repair of
spinal cord injury, according to an article released on August 18, 2008
in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.
In injuries to the central nervous system such as spinal cord injury,
the glial scar is formed in a similar manner to scars in other parts of
the body. However, while protecting the damaged area in many ways, it
simultaneously releases chemicals that inhibit further regeneration.
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Diabetes and Spinal Cord Injury
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People with spinal cord disorders are more prone than
most to developing type 2 diabetes. But the condition can be managed
and even reversed with diet, exercise and medications.
“You are diabetic.” No one wants to hear these words and
when they do, they are likely to be in shock or disbelief. “Sure,
I’m in a wheelchair, overweight and I don’t get much
exercise, but nobody in my family has diabetes,” may be a typical
response.
Surprisingly, genetics plays only a limited role in the development
of type 2 diabetes, but diabetes now afflicts almost 1 in 10 Americans
and a recent study showed that 2 in 10 spinal cord injured veterans are
diabetic.
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Though grouped together, quadri- and tetraplegics are different
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Both quadri- and tetra- mean
four. Naturally, most people would think that a quadriplegic and
tetraplegic can't move any of their four limbs. But there's more to it
than that. The
National Spinal Cord Injury Association, among others, group
tetraplegia and quadriplegia together. That disturbs me because my
doctors always said that tetraplegia is a more severe spinal cord
injury than quadriplegia. On Jan. 12, 1993, my brain stem was contused
and spinal cord severed. My injury doesn't even involve any vertebrae. Quadriplegics that I've heard about only have their spinal cords damaged.
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New U.S. Medicare Policy Encourages Healthier Approach to Bladder Management and Catheter Use
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Coloplast
supports critical change in catheter guidelines giving consumers
choices, cutting healthcare costs and reducing exposure to bacteria
People using intermittent catheters no longer need to re-use their
catheters due to a new Medicare policy effective April 1, 2008. The
change affects nearly 1 million individuals living with spinal cord
injury, multiple sclerosis and spina bifida, as well as those who have
other permanent conditions requiring bladder management or experience
urinary incontinence or retention.
Catheter re-use may be a key contributor to urinary tract
infections. With approximately 10 million urinary tract
infection-related doctor visits each year, the Medicare change is
an important step in reducing healthcare costs through preventive care
and lowering patient risks related to urinary catheterization.
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Published Study Shows Oxycyte Successfully Reduces Oxygen Shortages in a Spinal Cord Injury Model
Published 07/30/2008
| Research | Unrated
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Few therapies have consistently demonstrated effectiveness in
preserving oxygen delivery after spinal cord injury (SCI). The
researchers measured oxygen levels in rats in two studies to establish
a dose response curve. The pressure of oxygen levels dissolved in the
blood in spinal cord injury showed a profound drop from 21.4 to 10.4
mm Hg almost immediately post injury. In the relevant experiment, all
animals that received Oxycyte combined with 100% oxygen showed
significant improvement, with a mean increase in oxygen levels of 23.3
mm Hg. Only one saline-treated animal in the control group showed any
benefit. Oxygen values in the group treated with Oxycyte reached up to
six times the normal level.
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A BACTERIAL PARTNERSHIP
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Basically, antibiotic development became the cornerstone in the establishment of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). Like the hero in the Oscar-nominated movie Atonement, my great-uncle died due to infection from a wound he sustained charging a German machine-gun nest in World War I. If antibiotics had been available, he would have survived, and perhaps I would have met him.
A decade later, future Nobel Laureate Alexander Fleming observed that bacterial growth was inhibited by a penicillin-generating mold. As a result of his discovery and the ensuing large-scale production of penicillin catalyzed by World War II's bloodshed, many soldiers wounded later in this war were able to live, including PVA founders. Since then, scientists have developed numerous antibiotics, which have greatly increased life expectancy after SCI.
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Bladder Cancer In Spinal Cord Injury Patients
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Finally, University of California at Irvine investigators
retrospectively evaluated 32/1319 (2.4%) SCI patients who developed
bladder cancer that was detected a mean of 34 years (range 16-62)
following SCI.
> 50% of these patients had not been managed with an indwelling
Foley catheter. Current recommendation is surveillance cystoscopy every
10 years in SCI patients with indwelling catheters, but based on this
study, consideration of more diligent screening in all SCI patients
regardless of bladder management technique, was urged by the authors.
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New report shows locomotor training restores walking function in child with spinal cord injury
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Central nervous system may be retrained, report led by physical therapist shows
A new report shows that a non-ambulatory (unable to walk or stand)
child with a cervical spinal cord injury was able to restore basic
walking function after intensive locomotor training. The case study,
published in Physical Therapy (May 2008), the scientific journal of the
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), evaluated the effects of
locomotor training in a 4 ˝ year-old-boy, who had no ability to
walk following a gunshot wound sixteen months earlier.
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Varied therapies for spinal cord injury
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There is no cure for a spinal cord injury, but much headway has been
made in clinical research that could lead to one. Other therapies have
helped to restore some function in spinal cord injured patients. A look
at some efforts:
Cell-based therapies hold the potential
for replacing cells and restoring function lost to disease or injury.
Among those being developed to help treat spinal cord injuries
Gene therapy carries the potential to provide the injured spinal cord
with the specific gene products, or proteins, that it needs to promote
functional recovery. Gene therapy is not a current treatment for spinal
cord injuries but is being studied with animal models of spinal cord
injury.
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Quick Decompression Aids Spinal Injury Recovery
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Patients having
decompression surgery within 24 hours of a cervical spinal cord injury may
have a better outcome than those who have the procedure later, according
to new research.
Surgical decompression of the spinal cord involves the removal of various tissue or bone fragments that are being squeezed and comprising the spinal cord. While commonly done after an injury occurs, the timing of the procedure varies widely.
The study looked at 170 patients with cervical spinal cord injuries,
graded as A (most several neurological involvement) to D (least severe),
who underwent decompression surgery.
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Autonomic Dysreflexia: What You Need to Know
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A free online webinar from the Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center featuring Dr. Steve Stiens, M.D.
Autonomic
Dysreflexia is a serious side effect for some people with paralysis.
It's a potentially fatal complication that involves hypertension and
sometimes leads to intracranial hemorrhage or stroke.
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Using Airbags without Seatbelts Increases Injury Risk
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In motor vehicle crashes resulting in airbag
deployment, drivers and passengers who are not wearing seatbelts are at
higher risk of cervical spine (neck) fractures and other spinal cord
injuries, according to a study in the March 15 issue of Spine.
The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part
of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and
business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in
medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical
industry. "Airbags should be used in conjunction with seatbelts
to minimize the risk of cervical spine fractures and spinal cord
injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes," concludes the report
by Dr. William F. Donaldson III of University of Pittsburgh and
colleagues.
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Cyberkinetics’ Andara™ OFS™ Therapy Featured in Presentations at the AANS/CNS Meeting
Published 03/3/2008
| Research | Unrated
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Researchers report that people with spinal cord injuries treated with
Cyberkinetics’ Andara™
OFS™ System showed significantly greater
neurological improvement than those in a separate study who received no
therapy for their spinal cord injuries.
“Results from each of these studies continue
to support the probable benefit of the Andara™
OFS™ System for people with acute spinal cord
injuries,” said Timothy R. Surgenor,
President and Chief Executive Officer at Cyberkinetics. “We
now have data that show two or three times the level of sensory
improvement compared to results from people that did not receive therapy
following their injuries in a prior study.”
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Spinal Cord Injury May Not Increase Risk of Heart Disease
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Americans who live with spinal cord injury do not
appear to be at greater risk of developing carbohydrate and lipid
disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes, impaired glucose
tolerance, and high or low blood cholesterol levels – risk
factors for heart disease – than able-bodied persons, according
to a new evidence review by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality. More than a quarter million
Americans live with a disability due to spinal cord injury, and 11,000
are hospitalized annually. Spinal cord injury is usually caused by a
sudden traumatic blow to the spine such as from accidents or violent
events, including combat.
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Fitness Is Important If You Have A Spinal Cord Injury
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Being fit means being trim, energized, and confident and this is still important for someone with spinal cord injury.
A fitness program for a spinal cord injury patient can provide
strength, education, confidence, and conditioning of mind and body
thereby increasing one’s flexibility, cardiovascular, and
strength. With all these goals in mind, a person can improve his or her
functional mobility and daily activities and even return to his or her
recreational sports or hobbies.
People with spinal cord injury require stronger shoulder muscles in
order to reduce pain, prevent risk of injury, and to improve the
function of their upper extremities from propelling their wheelchair
everyday.
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First Published SF-6D Utility Measures For Paraplegia And Tetraplegia
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The cost of care and equipment for a person with a high-level spinal
cord injury (tetraplegia) is estimated as $50,000 to $280,000 AUD per
annum dependent on level of injury. Important way governments and other
health funders can work out the value of these health care expenditures
to society is through utility values which take into account people's
health preferences.
This paper provides the first SF-6D utility values for people with a spinal cord injury
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Spinal Cord Injury and its Legal Remedy
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The spinal cord connects the brain to most of our body organs a minor
injury inflicted in this vital part of our body may result to severe
and fatal damages.
Most of us have learned the importance of the
spinal cord in our body during our schooling. The spinal cord connects
the brain to most of our body organs enabling them to perform their
respective bodily functions. As an example, if a person needs to carry
a pail of water, his brain will send impulses to the corresponding
muscle through the nerves found in the spinal cord, then the
responsible muscle will perform the job accordingly. Our spinal cord is
also a delicate part of our body. Hence, a minor spinal cord injury
(SCI) inflicted in this vital part of our body may result to severe and
fatal damages.
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Ayurvedic Home Remedies for Paralysis
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It is a form when neurosyphilis occurs after 5-20 years after the
(original) venereal infection. The infecting organisms gradually or
progressively destroy the sensory nerves, when severe stabbing pains
occur in the trunk and legs, gait becomes tottering or staggering and
unsteady, loss of control over bladder is another accompanying symptom.
A few patients may have damage of optic nerves that results in blurred
vision. Young or middle aged persons are often the victims. Nomeclation
of disease depends on the affection of a particular area of body like
brain, spinal cord or nerves; that is why terms like cerebral, spinal
or peripheral paralysis are often used.
Shaking or Trembling Paralysis or Paralysis Agitans, or Parkinsonism
(Parkinson's disease) are the terms used for rigidity of muscles and
rhythmical tremors.
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Reports from Spinal Cord Injury Patients- Eight Months after the 2003 Earthquake in Bam, Iran
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The World Health Organization defines disaster as a sudden ecologic
phenomenon of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance. On
December 26, 2003, the Bam earthquake left more than 200 spinal cord
injury (SCI) patients. Our study of these SCI patients and the
rehabilitation of disabled persons in Bam may assist in the
organization of rehabilitation programs during future disasters.
Eight months after the disaster, we planned to visit the SCI patients
in Bam. We visited 61 patients in Bam, Baravat, and surrounding
villages. We completed a questionnaire during our visit.
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Use of Botox® soon after spinal injury studied as way to prevent overactive bladder
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Can Botox®, used early, help spinal cord injury patients who have an overactive bladder?
Dr. Christopher Smith, assistant professor of urology at Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, hopes a federally funded study
conducted in conjunction with Memorial Hermann/The Institute for
Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, will answer the question. BCM
is one of 10 sites participating in the national study.
Spinal cord injuries from a variety of accidents affect approximately 250,000 Americans.
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Cursor control at the tip of your tongue
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 Steering a wheelchair with your tongue sounds impressive enough. Doing
so with your mouth closed and gadget-free is the feat allowed by a
tongue-tracking earpiece due on sale later this year.
Typically, quadriplegics must suck or blow into a straw to steer a
wheelchair or move a computer cursor. That can be unhygienic and
irritating for the user, says Ravi Vaidyanathan, an engineer at the
University of Southampton, UK.
Instead, he and Lalit Gupta of Southern Illinois University Carbondale
have created a device that identifies a range of different tongue
movements with 97 per cent accuracy, using a microphone that sits
inside the ear.
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A chill down the spine
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The quick and cooling treatment of Buffalo Bills' Kevin Everett spurs interest in its use in spinal cord injuries.
Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett's remarkable progress after a
recent spinal injury has ignited hopes that one component of his
treatment -- therapeutic hypothermia -- could represent a breakthrough
for other victims of spinal cord injuries.
But while promising, rapidly cooling the body following
catastrophic spine injury may not become standard practice. The
treatment has yet to be proven effective in clinical trials, and it
appears to increase the risk of infection and cardiac arrhythmias.
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New Spinal Cord Injuries Study Says Conducting Surgeries Earlier Could Prevent More Nerve Damage
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A new study reveals that conducting surgeries earlier when treating spinal cord injuries could lead to better results and less damage to injury victims.
Currently, surgeries for spinal cord injuries are usually performed
five days or more after the injury occurred. The surgery is intended to
hopefully fix the spine and alleviate pressure. Most injury patients
are able to get at least some function back in their limbs, hands,
toes, and fingers after a surgery.
Over 300,000 Americans with spinal cord injuries are in wheelchairs.
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Analog chip could be Rx for spinal cord injury
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There\'s a reason that a broken neck or back is considered to be one of
the most tragic of injuries. If the spinal cord snaps, the brain loses
its ability to communicate with the rest of the body, and the limbs to
talk to each other. What most people don\'t realize is that when it
comes to locomotion, the second problem is actually worse than the
first. The chicken with its head cut off can still run around, thanks
to its spinal cord: The brain gave the signal to get going, then became
superfluous to requirements. But if the limbs can't "speak" to each
other to coordinate, then walking is impossible.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (JHU; Baltimore) saw a way of
getting around the problem. It turns out that the coordinated movements
of limbs in all sorts of animals (including chickens) are produced by a
central pattern generator (CPG).
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Ice-Cold Innovations in Miami
Published 09/17/2007
| Research | Unrated
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 The Miami Project Develops Cooling Therapy Like That Used to Treat NFL's Kevin Everett
Against all odds, Buffalo Bills' tight end Kevin Everett, who sustained
a disastrous spinal injury during the Bills' season opener Sept. 9, has
been exhibiting significant signs of improvement this week.
Everett's progress is stunning, coming after the announcement
from the team's orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, that it was
unlikely Everett would ever walk again. But in the days after this
grim, initial prognosis, Everett's condition began to improve. He is
now conscious and has regained a small degree of movement in his
ankles, legs and arms.
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GPS-like Technology Helps Pinpoint Best Methods For Moving Injured Players
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The 15 minutes it took to remove Buffalo Bills player
Kevin Everett off the field after he suffered a spinal cord injury may
seem like a long time for someone needing acute medical care, but in
fact, those minutes underscore how critical it is to carefully move a
player with a suspected spinal cord injury off the field.
It also highlights the challenges faced when needing to minimize any further movement to an injured spinal cord.
And those challenges have been the focus over the past eight years for
Glenn Rechtine, M.D., professor of Orthopaedics at the University of
Rochester Medical Center, and president of the American Spinal Injury
Association. He and his colleagues believe they now know the best
methods to move injured players off the field thanks to GPS-like
technology.
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Heads up! Tackling the wrong way can lead to catastrophic injuries
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Chad Frazier has seen it hundreds of times: Two guys run into each
other at full speed, and one of them doesn't get up right away.
The crowd falls silent. The other players drop to a knee,
whispering a prayer and trying to shake the very sobering reality that
it could be any of them stretched out on the ground. Everyone strains
their eyes, hoping to glimpse even the tiniest sign of movement.
As the head football coach at
Heritage High School in suburban Atlanta, Frazier knows most players
eventually get up. Still, he always frets that one won't.
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Psychological or physiological
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Why are tetraplegic patients content?Objective: To assess the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) on perceived health-related quality of life (QOL).
Background: SCI is physically disabling, socially handicapping, and romantically limiting. Nevertheless, little is known about post-SCI neurocognitive and psychosocial life. Better understanding of the cognitive and emotional worlds of SCI patients is essential to better address and meet their needs and expectations.
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Right to Recover, Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research.
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If
you have been unable to settle on an educated opinion concerning stem
cell research, this well laid out book should end your dilemma.
Stem cell research is being conducted for both
medical and scientific reasons. It could be the answer to many
debilitating and terminal afflictions including Cancer, Parkinson's
Disease, Arthritis, Spinal Cord Injury and many more.
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Tip of the iceberg
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 Crip's Column - View from my wheelchair - Victoria Brignell on life as a disabled person.
There's more to paralysis than not being able to move.
Victoria reveals the hidden medical challenges faced by people with
spinal injuries
Paralysis
is rather like an iceberg. The bit you can see, the
not-being-able-to-walk palaver, is just the tip. Suffering a spinal
injury has a number of other effects on the body which most of the time
remain hidden from public gaze, but which can be just as difficult to
come to terms with.
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Perceptions of People With Tetraplegia Regarding Surgery to Improve Upper-Extremity Function
Published 05/13/2007
| Research | Unrated
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Subjects recruited for this project were adults with cervical spinal
cord injuries ranging from the C4 to C8 level who had not had
upper-extremity reconstructive surgery. We recruited participants from
2 different settings. First, a sample was obtained from patients who
presented to a university spinal cord clinic for outpatient visits.
second, we recruited people with a spinal cord injury in a community
setting through a nonprofit organization that sponsors events for
individuals with tetraplegia. The nonprofit organization identified
people with tetraplegia who were willing to answer our questionnaire.
All individuals with a C4 to C8 injury were offered the survey (a total
of 58 people). Of those approached, 50 chose to participate in the
survey, giving a response rate of 86%.
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Spinal Cord Injuries Among Geriatrics Has Risen Five Times in Last 30 Years
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The number of spinal cord injuries
among senior citizens (age 70 and above) has increased five times in
the past 30 years, as compared with younger spinal cord injury
patients, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and
Jefferson's Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley
recently reported. As the population within the United States
ages, it is estimated that 20 percent of its population will be older
than age 65 by the year 2040, and will likely impact spine surgeons and
spinal cord rehabilitation centers as these patients become a larger
proportion of the spinal cord injury (SCI) population. The findings
were just presented by Jefferson neurological surgeons at a meeting in
Phoenix, Ariz. of the Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and
Peripheral Nerves of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
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TREADMILL TRAINING
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Many aggressive rehabilitation programs have incorporated body-weight-supported (BWS) treadmill training to enhance ambulatory ability after spinal cord injury. This training apparently develops new function-restoring neuronal networks and triggers the spinal-cord’s “central-pattern generator,” a sort of brain within the spinal cord that can sustain lower-limb repetitive movement, such as walking, independent of direct brain control. The article summarizes various research studies evaluating the impact of treadmill training. Because specific procedures often vary considerably, it is hard to over-generalize the results. Some studies suggest considerable benefits, and others do not.
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Stem Cells 101
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What it is (and isn't), why it's promising, and who can benefit.
Embryonic Stem Cells Hold Tremendous Promise!
The suffering of millions could end, A majority of couples want to help save lives, Private funding means research without federal oversight, The majority of Americans (regardless of religious affiliation) support embryonic stem cell research...
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Are you a Woman with a SCI who has been injured for at least one year?
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This is a request for women with SCI (aged 18 or older) who are both employed and unemployed to participate in an on-line research project.
Need: Research on the return to work experiences of women with SCI is close to nonexistent. Increasing the understanding of what it is like to be a woman with a SCI who has either returned to work, attempted to return to work, or would like to return to work will offer very valuable insight into understanding the most effective approaches to helping women return to work. Go to Survey Now!
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Survey of Pain and Fatigue in Adults with Disabilities
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NOW RECRUITING - Announcing a new study of pain and fatigue in adults with multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.
Pain and fatigue are the most common
patient-reported symptoms cutting across a broad range of chronic
diseases and conditions. They often occur together, yet the association
has not been adequately studied and understood, and we lack adequate
knowledge about the longitudinal patterns of pain and fatigue.
The
specific aims of this project are: 1) to develop a psychometrically
validated instrument or battery of instruments for measuring pain,
fatigue, social participation, emotional distress, and physical
functioning in persons with disabilities; 2) to improve current
measures of patient-reported outcomes; and 3) to increase scientific
understanding of the course of pain and fatigue and their associations
with important outcome measures including depression, participation,
and disability level.
Our primary
hypothesis is that both pain and fatigue will be significantly
associated with participation, contributing above and beyond the
effects of depression and disability. We also expect the magnitude of
the effect to differ depending on medical diagnosis (multiple sclerosis
(MS) or spinal cord injury (SCI).
The proposed study involves two
phases:(1) one initial survey of 1000 individuals with MS and SCI (500
of each); and (2) five follow-up surveys at four month intervals of 300
individuals from the initial survey.
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What's the difference between a paraplegic and a quadriplegic?
Published 01/23/2007
| FAQs | Unrated
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You were wondering ...
Spinal cord injuries occur when there's damage to the spinal cord.
The result is loss of function, usually in mobility or feeling. Severe
injuries that occur in the neck usually result in quadriplegia, which
is paralysis from about the shoulders down. Typically, the higher the
neck injury, the more disability there is.
More than 54 percent of spinal cord injuries are the result of
vehicular collisions. More than a quarter result from other medical
conditions and sports injuries. Falls make up about 18 percent.
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In the know: What are stem cells?
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STEM cells have important characteristics that distinguish them from other cell types.
They are unspecialized cells that can develop into other specialized
cell types in the body, like heart muscle cells, blood cells or nerve
cells. Unlike these specialized cells, stem cells can replicate
themselves many times over through cell division.
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Injuries Involving Paralysis
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Quadriplegia is a type of spinal cord injury. You can become paralyzed through an injury or through some diseases.
The
human spine is very complex and is part of the central nervous system
which allows the brain to communicate with the rest of the body. The
spinal cord comprises of 24 vertebrea or small bones. These small bones
are grouped into three sections, one section is the neck (cervical
spine), the second section is the middle back (thoracic), and the third
section is the lower back (lumbar spine). There are lots of tissues
that surround the bones muscles and skin, all of which support the
spine.
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Levitra® (vardenafil HCl) Demonstrates Normal Erectile Function in 53% of Men with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
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 “The label change and study results are very encouraging for the
many men who suffer from spinal cord injury. The recorded levels of
improvement in erectile function and ejaculation rates during the study
period were impressive. This is great news for men suffering with ED
resulting from spinal cord injury who wish to father children.”
Lead author of the study, François Giuliano, MD, PhD, a
professor at the department of urology, CHU de Bicetre, in Paris
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Spinal cord injury prevention tips
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Always wear a seat belt. Secure or buckle children into age- and weight-appropriate child safety seats. Do not ride in a car with a driver who is impaired by alcohol or drugs. Always
wear a helmet when riding a bike, motorcycle, scooter or skateboard,
in-line skating and roller-skating and horseback riding.
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Here's what works to prevent bedsores
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Q: My father developed some serious bedsores
while he was in the hospital after surgery. Why do bedsores occur, and
can they be prevented?
A: Bedsores can be painful, and sometimes even deadly. Two-thirds of
all bedsores occur in people over the age of 70, mainly because older
people are more likely to have health problems that put them at risk.
People with spinal cord injuries are also likely to develop bedsores
because of the time they spend in one position. When Christopher Reeve,
the actor who was paralyzed in a horseback riding accident, died in
2004, news accounts said he died from a bedsore-related infection.
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The Personal Care Attendant Guide
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 The Art of Finding, Keeping, or Being One
People with
disabilities are one of the largest groups in the United States - about
58 million Americans are members of this community. To live
independently, many people with physical, sensory, or cognitive
disabilities hire a personal attendant to assist with day-to-day tasks.
Finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging, but not impossible.
Written by an inspiring speaker, writer and advocate who is herself disabled, The Personal Care Attendant Guide
teaches readers how to find a competent caregiver. It also gives
current and prospective attendants vital information and real-life
examples to help them succeed in this demanding work environment.
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Waterfall D-Mannose Stopped my Antibiotic Resistant Urine Infections
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Hi Everyone I hope this article helps you as much as it’s helped me. My name is Jason I live in the Uk and have suffered with severe urine infections for over 16yrs. My
condition is a spinal cord injury patient due to a road traffic
accident 16yrs ago and I have suffered immensely with these retched
urine infections ever since. I’ve tried various methods to stop
these infections from drinking 10 pints of water daily to taking
cranberry juice and tablets and nothing could stop these horrible
infections but antibiotics.
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Two types of stem cells
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Embryonic: These master cells naturally give
rise to nerve, heart, bone, blood -- all of the body's tissue types.
Scientists predict they will improve medicine by replacing defective
cells such as those damaged in a spinal-cord injury, and by enhancing
understanding of what happens when something malfunctions in the body. Adult: Stem
cells found in bone marrow, umbilical cord blood and some other tissues
also have regenerative powers. They have been used in transplants to
treat blood disorders and some types of cancer. Researchers are working
to coax them toward other uses. It remains to be seen whether they can
be as versatile and prolific as embryonic cells.
SHARON SCHMICKLE
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Types of Assistive Technology Products
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Assistive technology products are designed to
provide additional accessibility to individuals who have physical or
cognitive difficulties, impairments, and disabilities. When selecting
assistive technology products, it is crucial to find products that are
compatible with the computer operating system and programs on the
particular computer being used.
Here are descriptions of the various types of assistive technology products
that are currently available on the market today. You may also want to use a tool to identifying the right type of assistive technology that might be useful, then search the catalog of assistive technology products for products compatible with the Windows operating system.
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MAJOR COMMUNITY FORUM CHANGES
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As you know things in life change!
I re-organized the Community Forums! Please don’t be mad but I had to
do something. The old categories were over flowing with post. I
personally couldn’t find places for some post. That’s enough about the
old forums.
Sorry :(
What’s NEW in COMMUNITY FORUMS?
NEW Interesting Forums like “Sense of Humor” and “Caregiving” are waiting for your Messages.
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Ideas and instructions for building a handicapped accessible bathroom
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There is a lot to take into consideration when planning a
bathroom for a disable person. Ultimately, there are only two things that
really matter:
1)
Making the bathroom experience
safer
2) Making the bathroom experience easier and more comfortable
While safety is obviously a primary concern, ease of
bathing should not be overlooked. Once a person becomes disabled, using a
bathroom can become a nightmare; especially if assistance from a nurse or family
member is required. As bathing becomes more difficult, it is common to see a
person let their personal hygiene go by the wayside as they avoid cleaning
themselves and using the bathroom. Inability to bathe without assistance will
damage a persons pride and eventually make them avoid using the bathroom.
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